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To: Alex who wrote (10504)	4/23/1998 3:24:00 PM
From: Alex	Respond to of 116763

Japan owns half the world's savings and any moves to bring those funds back home could have severe knock on effects - not least for the US economy. news.bbc.co.uk

To: Alex who wrote (10504)	4/23/1998 5:28:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116763

What will they think in 2 years time? 'Euro sets date for disaster with year 2000 By Richard Burnett of The Sentinel Staff Published in The Orlando Sentinel, April 22, 1998 Like comets hurtling toward each other, the world's year 2000 problem and Europe's new ''euro'' currency are on a collision course that could disrupt the world economy, computer experts said Tuesday. With the world already pouring billions into solving the millennium problem, converting computers to the euro can only fuel higher costs and more confusion, experts said at a year 2000 conference in Orlando. The millennium problem -- enabling computers to distinguish between years 2000 and 1900 -- is the biggest software project in history, while euro conversion is the second largest, said Capers Jones, an author and high-tech executive. The European Union, including France and Germany, plans to launch its unified currency -- called the euro -- beginning next year. ''The euro and year 2000 are competing for scarce software resources,'' he said. ''The timing of the euro conversion with the year 2000 work is disastrous. It is one of the worst public policy decisions in human history.'' Jones spoke at the Year 2000 Conference & Expo in Orlando, one of a series of events focusing on the millennium problem. Experts fear the year 2000 software flaw will disrupt the entire Information Age. Jones is chairman of the conference advisory committee and president of Software Productivity Research Inc., a high-tech research firm based in Massachusetts. The conference ends today at the Orlando Marriott World Center. <snip> But Europe, which already is lagging in its year 2000 computer work, could suffer major economic damage by simultaneously introducing the euro, Jones said. Year 2000 could inject errors into computer systems that calculate the difference between the euro, dollar, franc, deutsche mark and other currencies. Banks, government services, investment and retail systems could shut down, and the economies of France, Germany and other members of the European Union could shatter, he said. ''The probable outcome of what will occur when the euro meets the year 2000 may resemble what happened when the Titanic met the iceberg,'' Jones said. While America could probably absorb the euro hit, the currency conversion still will cost billions of dollars on top of the ever-ballooning year 2000 bill, he said. The latest projections put the year 2000 price tag at $674 billion for the United States, Jones said. Estimates are not available for euro conversion work. Some attending the conference said Jones' remarks were right on target. ''He's not alarmist. I think he's telling the brutal truth,'' said Dom Gualtieri, business development director for Datamatics America Inc., a New York-based computer consulting firm. ''As critical as the year 2000 problem is, I believe the euro-dollar and all its ramifications are hundreds of times greater.'' [Posted 04/21/98 7:21 PM EST] orlandosentinel.com

To: Alex who wrote (10504)	4/23/1998 5:36:00 PM
From: Bo Bob Brain	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116763

>>>"This euro in no shape or form an incalculable risk".<<< Is economic union without political union possible??

To: Alex who wrote (10504)	4/24/1998 3:45:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116763

>>>He also reminded Germans, whom polls consistently show harbouring deep reservations on the euro, that siting the future European Central Bank in Frankfurt meant the currency would be managed from German soil. >> Alex, looking from historic perspective Germany would now command enormous economic/political control over Europe..(far greater than military regimes had.. No wonder French are paranoid about it and must have an appearance of a "BIG" role..We shall see what that role is going tobe..but rest assured it must look "BIG"